About high paid ¨star¨ tutors in Hong Kong
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20085558
The celebrity tutor phenomenon is a result of the huge growth in
out-of-school tutoring in Asia.
The tutoring industry, or "shadow education" has become very
widespread in Asia, fed by the growth in universities and the rising
proportion of school leavers aiming for university.
It's not just Hong Kong. Tutoring has "spread and intensified in Asia
and become more commercialised," said professor Bray. In South Korea,
90% of primary school children attend such classes.
In South Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, tutorial schools use
star tutors to attract even more students. "They have found a way to
appeal to young people and pull them in. They create a buzz," he said.
"With so many tutors in Hong Kong, students don't know who to choose
so they go for the 'tutor kings' and 'tutor queens'," she said.
Some students just attend the lectures and watch video recordings of
lectures while others purchase add-ons such as personalised
interaction with the star tutor or tutor's aide via Facebook or email.
But they are not movie stars or supermodels: they are Hong Kong's
A-list "tutor kings" and "tutor queens", offering pupils a chance to
improve mediocre grades.
In Hong Kong's consumer culture, looks sell. Celebrity tutors in their
sophisticated hair-dos and designer trappings are treated like idols
by their young fans who flock to their classes.
And they have earnings to match - some have become millionaires and
appear regularly on television shows.
"If you want to be a top tutor, it definitely helps if you are young
and attractive. Students look at your appearance," said Kelly Mok, 26,
a "tutor queen" at King's Glory, one of Hong Kong's largest tutorial
establishments.
Her designer clothes and accessories are not just for the billboards;
it's how she likes to dress outside classes. But she is also careful
to add that she wouldn't be in such high demand if she could not
deliver top grades in her subject, English.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Links: Mind Games
- Broaden Your Knowledge of General Studies with Lifehacker University
- Top 10 Ways to Make Yourself Look (and Be) Smarter
- Top 10 Tips and Tricks to Train, Exercise, and Better Your Brain
- How to Train Your Brain and Boost Your Memory like a USA Memory Champion
- I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here's How
- Broaden Your Horizons by Randomizing Your Reading Material
- How to Detect When Someone's Lying and Get Them to Tell the Truth
- How to Determine if a Controversial Statement is Scientifically True
- How to Spot Truth in the Sea of Lies, Rumors, and Myths on the Internet
- How Science Can Teach You to Easily Spot a Liar
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Cambodian children: What are you most afraid of?
"I am afraid of thieves, child rape and drug users," said 12-year-old
Panchma, a Cambodian girl in a survey of more than 6,000 children in
47 countries conducted by international child development coalition
ChildFund Alliance.
The survey of the hopes and fears of children aged 10 through to 12
shows that Cambodian children are significantly more concerned by
violent crime than most of their peers around the world, but have
particularly high aspirations for education in their country.
The study's findings place Cambodia alongside Liberia and Afghanistan
as the countries where the highest proportion of children emphasised
fear of violence and crime.
In response to the question, "What are you most afraid of?" just under
one third of Cambodian children surveyed answered violence and crime –
more than any other named fear.
This was a significantly high percentage compared to other countries
where an average of only 10 per cent of children surveyed named
violence and crime as their top fears, with most children responding
their top dreads were scary animals and insects.
The next most common fear among Cambodian children, identified by 22
per cent of respondents, was "unfulfilled aspirations, such as not
being able to complete school or find employment".
The importance that Cambodian children in the survey attached to
education was echoed in their responses about hopes and aspirations.
Nearly three-quarters of kids said that if they were the leader of
Cambodia, their main way to better children's lives would be to
"improve education/provide enrichment opportunities" – a response
given by only 39 per cent of children surveyed overall and 52 per cent
of children in developing Asian nations.
Education also inspired a particularly large response among Cambodian
children to the question: "If you could grow up to be anything you
wanted, what would you be?"
Thirty-seven per cent of Cambodian children said they would be a
"teacher/academic."
by Justine Drennan
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012112159844/National-news/violence-tops-cambodian-children-fears-global-survey.html
Panchma, a Cambodian girl in a survey of more than 6,000 children in
47 countries conducted by international child development coalition
ChildFund Alliance.
The survey of the hopes and fears of children aged 10 through to 12
shows that Cambodian children are significantly more concerned by
violent crime than most of their peers around the world, but have
particularly high aspirations for education in their country.
The study's findings place Cambodia alongside Liberia and Afghanistan
as the countries where the highest proportion of children emphasised
fear of violence and crime.
In response to the question, "What are you most afraid of?" just under
one third of Cambodian children surveyed answered violence and crime –
more than any other named fear.
This was a significantly high percentage compared to other countries
where an average of only 10 per cent of children surveyed named
violence and crime as their top fears, with most children responding
their top dreads were scary animals and insects.
The next most common fear among Cambodian children, identified by 22
per cent of respondents, was "unfulfilled aspirations, such as not
being able to complete school or find employment".
The importance that Cambodian children in the survey attached to
education was echoed in their responses about hopes and aspirations.
Nearly three-quarters of kids said that if they were the leader of
Cambodia, their main way to better children's lives would be to
"improve education/provide enrichment opportunities" – a response
given by only 39 per cent of children surveyed overall and 52 per cent
of children in developing Asian nations.
Education also inspired a particularly large response among Cambodian
children to the question: "If you could grow up to be anything you
wanted, what would you be?"
Thirty-seven per cent of Cambodian children said they would be a
"teacher/academic."
by Justine Drennan
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012112159844/National-news/violence-tops-cambodian-children-fears-global-survey.html
Monday, November 19, 2012
Profile of Theary C. Seng
Theary C. Seng is an American-Cambodian attorney and activist now
living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She was born in Phnom Penh in 1971 and
lived under the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979. In 1980, she and
her family immigrated to the United States. In 2004, she chose to
return to Cambodia permanently.
In Cambodia, Theary founded the Center for Justice and Reconciliation,
a non-profit organization that seeks justice for the victims of the
Khmer Rouge. She is also a founding director of CIVICUS: Center for
Cambodian Civic Education, an organization designed to teach Cambodian
citizens about civil rights, law, and government. She lobbies and
speaks often about the major social issues in Cambodia which include
human rights, poverty, education, land grabbing, government
corruption, and human trafficking.
The Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million
Cambodians, almost twenty percent of the population of the country at
the time. The Khmer Rouge army gained control of Cambodia in 1975. The
Khmer Rouge forced all of the residents of the cities to evacuate to
the countryside, to become slave labor in collectivist villages. The
Khmer Rouge arbitrarily killed anyone they didn't like, including the
systemic executing of everyone who was educated or had foreign
influences.
Theary Seng and her family witnessed the full extent of the horror.
While she and her family were evacuating Phnom Penh, Theary's father
decided to make a trip back to the city to get more food. He was never
seen again. Sometime later, Theary, her mother and a brother were
imprisoned for several months, where, one morning, brother and sister
woke-up to discover that while they were sleeping, their mother had
been taken away to be killed. Throughout the entire period, in both
the collectives and the prison, families and individuals were being
taken away and killed on a regular basis. Food, clothing, housing, and
medical care were scarce. Everywhere, people were tortured, worked,
and starved to death. Theary Seng's extended family of grandmother,
aunts, uncles, cousins, and brothers became refugees in their own
country. At first they tried to seek refuge in Vietnam, but that
proved too risky. They along with groups of other refugees decided to
escape into Thailand. But Thai soldiers forced them at gunpoint to
march back into Cambodia on a narrow path through a valley that was
heavily mined. If anyone refused, was too tired, or lagged behind, the
Thai soldiers simply shot them on the spot.
In 1979, Theary and her surviving extended family members were able to
successfully cross the Thai border at another location and arrive at a
refugee camp. After a year, they were accepted as refugees in the
United States. Theary went on to graduate from Georgetown University
in 1995, from the University of Michigan Law School in 2000, and is a
member of the bar in New York State.
In 2005, Theary published a memoir titled, Daughter of the Killing
Fields, incorporating historical sources, her own childhood memories
and feelings, as well as the recollections of her family and others.
As a young refugee in the United States, Theary became a Christian,
and she attributes her sense of social obligation--of a need to give
back--to her Cambodian past, combined with her Christian faith. As a
law student and a lawyer Theary had gone back to Cambodia several
times as a volunteer to assist with various human rights projects. In
2004, she moved to Cambodia permanently, with the initial intention of
working on labor issues. But eventually the scope of her attention
shifted and expanded to seeking justice for the survivors of the Khmer
Rouge. She has been an influential public figure in the efforts to
bring the former leaders of the Khmer Rouge to trial. Moreover,
Theary frequently writes and speaks about what is needed for the
Cambodian nation to recover from that evil regime. She has published
articles regularly in Cambodia Daily, the Phnom Penh Post, and
Ki-Media, She is also the co-host of a Cambodian T.V. show called,
Youth Leadership Challenge.
After the Khmer Rouge had killed her parents her parents, Theary
became the beneficiary of the unconditional love of her extended
family of grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and her four brothers.
After many years of healing of healing in the U.S., she was able to
emerge from the experience with her humanity and her emotional health
intact. Unfortunately that has not been the case for numerous other
survivors. The Khmer Rouge years have scarred the psyche of millions
of Cambodians and left them with a legacy of domestic violence,
post-traumatic stress disorder, hyper-vigilance, and social
dysfunction that permeates their society.
In an interview, Theary said, "My work here is not to do anything big
but to be a common citizen back in my homeland where I suffered a lot,
and now I'm taking that suffering and shaping it into hope, and trying
to work with individuals who have not had the time and space to heal
that I've had."
Besides the killings and abuse, the Khmer Rouge destroyed all of the
commercial and education institutions in the country, leaving it as
the poorest country in the world. In Daughter of the Killing Fields,
she said: "I continue to mourn the loss of lives due to the Khmer
Rouge. Today, I also mourn the loss of human potential. How many Khmer
Mozarts, Einsteins and da Vincis will never be realized because there
are no infrastructures to encourage and absorb a Khmer child's
potential? I mourn when I meet a little girl on the street begging. I
see my face in her face. The only difference between us is in our
opportunities. At one point in my life, an opportunity existed which
led to other opportunities that nurtured and encouraged my budding
potential. In this little girl's situation, in light of the current
infrastructure and framework, the odds are stacked against her."
Theary Seng's own childhood story was a victory of hope over
persecution, suffering and evil. Theary could have chosen to remain
in the United States and pursue a career as an attorney, while living
a life of comfort and affluence. Instead, she has chosen to work to
inspire hope in her fellow Cambodians, to lead them to a vision of
justice, human dignity, and triumph over adversity.
A Profile of Theary Seng, Cambodian Human Rights Activist
http://blog.nominetwork.org/2010/10/profile-of-theary-c-seng-cambodian.html
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2010
by Stephen M. Bauer
living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She was born in Phnom Penh in 1971 and
lived under the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979. In 1980, she and
her family immigrated to the United States. In 2004, she chose to
return to Cambodia permanently.
In Cambodia, Theary founded the Center for Justice and Reconciliation,
a non-profit organization that seeks justice for the victims of the
Khmer Rouge. She is also a founding director of CIVICUS: Center for
Cambodian Civic Education, an organization designed to teach Cambodian
citizens about civil rights, law, and government. She lobbies and
speaks often about the major social issues in Cambodia which include
human rights, poverty, education, land grabbing, government
corruption, and human trafficking.
The Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million
Cambodians, almost twenty percent of the population of the country at
the time. The Khmer Rouge army gained control of Cambodia in 1975. The
Khmer Rouge forced all of the residents of the cities to evacuate to
the countryside, to become slave labor in collectivist villages. The
Khmer Rouge arbitrarily killed anyone they didn't like, including the
systemic executing of everyone who was educated or had foreign
influences.
Theary Seng and her family witnessed the full extent of the horror.
While she and her family were evacuating Phnom Penh, Theary's father
decided to make a trip back to the city to get more food. He was never
seen again. Sometime later, Theary, her mother and a brother were
imprisoned for several months, where, one morning, brother and sister
woke-up to discover that while they were sleeping, their mother had
been taken away to be killed. Throughout the entire period, in both
the collectives and the prison, families and individuals were being
taken away and killed on a regular basis. Food, clothing, housing, and
medical care were scarce. Everywhere, people were tortured, worked,
and starved to death. Theary Seng's extended family of grandmother,
aunts, uncles, cousins, and brothers became refugees in their own
country. At first they tried to seek refuge in Vietnam, but that
proved too risky. They along with groups of other refugees decided to
escape into Thailand. But Thai soldiers forced them at gunpoint to
march back into Cambodia on a narrow path through a valley that was
heavily mined. If anyone refused, was too tired, or lagged behind, the
Thai soldiers simply shot them on the spot.
In 1979, Theary and her surviving extended family members were able to
successfully cross the Thai border at another location and arrive at a
refugee camp. After a year, they were accepted as refugees in the
United States. Theary went on to graduate from Georgetown University
in 1995, from the University of Michigan Law School in 2000, and is a
member of the bar in New York State.
In 2005, Theary published a memoir titled, Daughter of the Killing
Fields, incorporating historical sources, her own childhood memories
and feelings, as well as the recollections of her family and others.
As a young refugee in the United States, Theary became a Christian,
and she attributes her sense of social obligation--of a need to give
back--to her Cambodian past, combined with her Christian faith. As a
law student and a lawyer Theary had gone back to Cambodia several
times as a volunteer to assist with various human rights projects. In
2004, she moved to Cambodia permanently, with the initial intention of
working on labor issues. But eventually the scope of her attention
shifted and expanded to seeking justice for the survivors of the Khmer
Rouge. She has been an influential public figure in the efforts to
bring the former leaders of the Khmer Rouge to trial. Moreover,
Theary frequently writes and speaks about what is needed for the
Cambodian nation to recover from that evil regime. She has published
articles regularly in Cambodia Daily, the Phnom Penh Post, and
Ki-Media, She is also the co-host of a Cambodian T.V. show called,
Youth Leadership Challenge.
After the Khmer Rouge had killed her parents her parents, Theary
became the beneficiary of the unconditional love of her extended
family of grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and her four brothers.
After many years of healing of healing in the U.S., she was able to
emerge from the experience with her humanity and her emotional health
intact. Unfortunately that has not been the case for numerous other
survivors. The Khmer Rouge years have scarred the psyche of millions
of Cambodians and left them with a legacy of domestic violence,
post-traumatic stress disorder, hyper-vigilance, and social
dysfunction that permeates their society.
In an interview, Theary said, "My work here is not to do anything big
but to be a common citizen back in my homeland where I suffered a lot,
and now I'm taking that suffering and shaping it into hope, and trying
to work with individuals who have not had the time and space to heal
that I've had."
Besides the killings and abuse, the Khmer Rouge destroyed all of the
commercial and education institutions in the country, leaving it as
the poorest country in the world. In Daughter of the Killing Fields,
she said: "I continue to mourn the loss of lives due to the Khmer
Rouge. Today, I also mourn the loss of human potential. How many Khmer
Mozarts, Einsteins and da Vincis will never be realized because there
are no infrastructures to encourage and absorb a Khmer child's
potential? I mourn when I meet a little girl on the street begging. I
see my face in her face. The only difference between us is in our
opportunities. At one point in my life, an opportunity existed which
led to other opportunities that nurtured and encouraged my budding
potential. In this little girl's situation, in light of the current
infrastructure and framework, the odds are stacked against her."
Theary Seng's own childhood story was a victory of hope over
persecution, suffering and evil. Theary could have chosen to remain
in the United States and pursue a career as an attorney, while living
a life of comfort and affluence. Instead, she has chosen to work to
inspire hope in her fellow Cambodians, to lead them to a vision of
justice, human dignity, and triumph over adversity.
A Profile of Theary Seng, Cambodian Human Rights Activist
http://blog.nominetwork.org/2010/10/profile-of-theary-c-seng-cambodian.html
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2010
by Stephen M. Bauer
Must-Have Job Skills in 2013
Even as employers remain cautious next year about every dollar spent
on employees, they'll also want workers to show greater skills and
results.
For employees who want to get ahead, basic competency won't be enough.
To win a promotion or land a job next year, experts say there are four
must-have job skills:
1. Clear communications
Whatever their level, communication is key for workers to advance.
"This is really the ability to clearly articulate your point of view
and the ability to create a connection through communication," says
Holly Paul, U.S. recruiting leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the
accounting and consulting firm based in New York.
For job seekers in particular, clear communication can provide a
snapshot of their work style to employers. "I can walk away from a
five-minute conversation and feel their enthusiasm and have a good
understanding of what's important to them," Ms. Paul says.
As office conversations increasingly move online, some workers are
losing or never developing the ability to give a presentation, for
example. Others may be unable to write coherently for longer than,
say, 140 characters.
"Technology in some ways has taken away our ability to write well.
People are in such a hurry that they are multitasking," and they skip
basics such as spelling and proofing, says Paul McDonald, senior
executive director of Robert Half International, a Menlo Park, Calif.,
staffing firm.
2. Personal branding
Human-resources executives scour blogs, Twitter and professional
networking sites such as LinkedIn when researching candidates, and
it's important that they like what they find.
"That's your brand, that's how you represent yourself," says Peter
Handal, CEO of Dale Carnegie Training, a Hauppauge, N.Y., provider of
workplace-training services. "If you post something that comes back to
haunt you, people will see that."
Workers also should make sure their personal brand is attractive and
reflects well on employers. "More and more employers are looking for
employees to tweet on their behalf, to blog on their behalf, to build
an audience and write compelling, snappy posts," says Meredith
Haberfeld, an executive and career coach in New York.
Ms. Haberfeld has a client whose employee recently posted on her
personal Facebook page about eating Chinese food and smoking "reefer."
"I saw it on Facebook. Her supervisors saw it," Ms. Haberfeld says.
3. Flexibility
The ability to quickly respond to an employer's changing needs will be
important next year as organizations try to respond nimbly to
customers.
"A lot of companies want us to work with their employees about how to
get out of their comfort zone, how to adapt," says Mr. Handal.
"Somebody's job today may not be the same as next year."
The ability to learn new skills is of top importance, says George
Boué, human-resources vice president for Stiles, a real-estate
services company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "We want to know that if we
roll out a new program or new tools that the folks we have on board
are going to be open to learning," he says.
4. Productivity improvement
In 2013, workers should find new ways to increase productivity,
experts say. Executives are looking for a 20% improvement in employee
performance next year from current levels, according to a recent
survey by the Corporate Executive Board, an Arlington, Va., business
research and advisory firm.
"When you are at your job, do you volunteer for projects? Are you
looking for creative ways to help your organization," Mr. McDonald
says. "The way to really differentiate yourself is to be proactive."
Companies that are considering adding workers in coming years want
current employees to operate in growth mode now. "My clients are
looking for employees that have a great ability to understand what is
wanted and needed, rather than needing to be told," Ms. Haberfeld
says.
Even hiring managers need to work on certain skills as organizations
consider expanding next year. "The ability to spot talent and hire
people has fallen out of use over the last several years," says Ben
Dattner, an organizational psychologist in New York. "As the economy
turns around, companies will have to work harder to retain talented
employees. Companies have trimmed the fat, and now they have to build
the muscle."
Must-Have Job Skills in 2013
By RUTH MANTELL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324735104578118902763095818.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read#printMode
on employees, they'll also want workers to show greater skills and
results.
For employees who want to get ahead, basic competency won't be enough.
To win a promotion or land a job next year, experts say there are four
must-have job skills:
1. Clear communications
Whatever their level, communication is key for workers to advance.
"This is really the ability to clearly articulate your point of view
and the ability to create a connection through communication," says
Holly Paul, U.S. recruiting leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the
accounting and consulting firm based in New York.
For job seekers in particular, clear communication can provide a
snapshot of their work style to employers. "I can walk away from a
five-minute conversation and feel their enthusiasm and have a good
understanding of what's important to them," Ms. Paul says.
As office conversations increasingly move online, some workers are
losing or never developing the ability to give a presentation, for
example. Others may be unable to write coherently for longer than,
say, 140 characters.
"Technology in some ways has taken away our ability to write well.
People are in such a hurry that they are multitasking," and they skip
basics such as spelling and proofing, says Paul McDonald, senior
executive director of Robert Half International, a Menlo Park, Calif.,
staffing firm.
2. Personal branding
Human-resources executives scour blogs, Twitter and professional
networking sites such as LinkedIn when researching candidates, and
it's important that they like what they find.
"That's your brand, that's how you represent yourself," says Peter
Handal, CEO of Dale Carnegie Training, a Hauppauge, N.Y., provider of
workplace-training services. "If you post something that comes back to
haunt you, people will see that."
Workers also should make sure their personal brand is attractive and
reflects well on employers. "More and more employers are looking for
employees to tweet on their behalf, to blog on their behalf, to build
an audience and write compelling, snappy posts," says Meredith
Haberfeld, an executive and career coach in New York.
Ms. Haberfeld has a client whose employee recently posted on her
personal Facebook page about eating Chinese food and smoking "reefer."
"I saw it on Facebook. Her supervisors saw it," Ms. Haberfeld says.
3. Flexibility
The ability to quickly respond to an employer's changing needs will be
important next year as organizations try to respond nimbly to
customers.
"A lot of companies want us to work with their employees about how to
get out of their comfort zone, how to adapt," says Mr. Handal.
"Somebody's job today may not be the same as next year."
The ability to learn new skills is of top importance, says George
Boué, human-resources vice president for Stiles, a real-estate
services company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "We want to know that if we
roll out a new program or new tools that the folks we have on board
are going to be open to learning," he says.
4. Productivity improvement
In 2013, workers should find new ways to increase productivity,
experts say. Executives are looking for a 20% improvement in employee
performance next year from current levels, according to a recent
survey by the Corporate Executive Board, an Arlington, Va., business
research and advisory firm.
"When you are at your job, do you volunteer for projects? Are you
looking for creative ways to help your organization," Mr. McDonald
says. "The way to really differentiate yourself is to be proactive."
Companies that are considering adding workers in coming years want
current employees to operate in growth mode now. "My clients are
looking for employees that have a great ability to understand what is
wanted and needed, rather than needing to be told," Ms. Haberfeld
says.
Even hiring managers need to work on certain skills as organizations
consider expanding next year. "The ability to spot talent and hire
people has fallen out of use over the last several years," says Ben
Dattner, an organizational psychologist in New York. "As the economy
turns around, companies will have to work harder to retain talented
employees. Companies have trimmed the fat, and now they have to build
the muscle."
Must-Have Job Skills in 2013
By RUTH MANTELL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324735104578118902763095818.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read#printMode
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